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Wish you could get rid of bad memories? Scientists say they may have found the key
[Scientists] say they have found the key chemical that helps our brains inhibit [...] unwanted, intrusive memories [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00956-z] [DX]. That's a big deal, because the discovery could help pioneer new ways to help people get past debilitating thoughts, according to a new study published in Nature Communications this week.
So what's the key? It's a neurotransmitter called GABA — a chemical in the brain that sends messages between nerve cells, according the study's author, Michael Anderson, a professor at the University of Cambridge. Anderson and the rest of his research team revealed in the study that GABA levels within the hippocampus — a vital part of the brain when it comes to memory — are strong predictors of whether or not you can block unwanted thoughts from resurfacing.
Think of GABA as foot soldiers in the hippocampus, Anderson said in a statement. Their mission? To block your intrusive thoughts. You and your brain's prefrontal cortex (the brain's "master regulator") are the commander of that brigade of neurotransmitter troops, the researchers wrote. But if you don't have enough GABA soldiers on the ground in your hippocampus to block the things your prefrontal cortex doesn't want to think about, you're probably going to keep thinking about them.
"When this capacity breaks down, it causes some of the most debilitating symptoms of psychiatric diseases — intrusive memories, images, hallucinations, ruminations, and pathological and persistent worries," Anderson said.
γ-Aminobutyric acid: That's another ingredient for my homebrewed soma mix.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @09:05PM (12 children)
I am sure there are some people from extraordinary circumstances who can use these medication, but it's best to face up to whatever demon you are burdened with, and work it out. Blocking it out, essentially ignoring it, temporarily with the aid of chemicals is no different than shooting up heroine to ignore the life's pain.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @09:28PM (4 children)
Please elaborate your analogy. "Buck up and live with it" can only go so far.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @09:52PM
There is a very important difference between "buck up" (put up with it) and "face up to it."
Let's say you are a woman who had been sexually molested by your father in your adolescence. I will leave it up to you how the two approaches are different.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @09:59PM
basically you use somatic therapies, the more challenging the better, to learn to own your self in body-mind and soul. failing to un-dent your self by your own volition, even if its just by way of martial arts or just about anything physical besides sex, you might as well just knock yourself off or live the zombie life. that clear enough? and yeah, sex as a palliative will just get your impulses to ru(i)n you cause you basically won't learn what functional/non-mechanical spontaneity and creativity actually feel like and 'do' for your overall sense of self.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @10:24PM (1 child)
Do not commit war crimes. Hey, would this work for MadMax, a la Furry Road? So many regrets, so many voices in his head.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:11AM
You know, Vietnam Vets used to swear up and down that anti-war protesters called them "baby-killers". I have known vets of the Iraq clusterfuck who told me about "friends" of theirs who had to mow down kids, because it might be an IED. Nations should not but their citizens in situations like this. And if they do, they certainly should not develop drugs to help them forget that they are, in fact, baby killers. Semper Fi!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday November 06 2017, @09:46PM (2 children)
On the other hand, if that burden is giving you PTSD episodes which convince you to find your nearest gun and murder your family, maybe the happy pills would be a morally defensible choice.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @10:03PM
Depends on the burden. See my comment above about a rape victim.
I hate to say this, but sometimes violence is the better answer, because the state failed to provide justice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @10:11PM
read up on patent-free medicines!
for extremes like that, low-dose lithium supplements are usually all you need to rescue friends or your self from thoughts as extreme as those you describe. replace NaCl with full-spectrum mineral salts and teach them to drink water and the person stands a good chance of needing anything anymore in less than a year.
in any case, willfully enslaving your self for life to patent-holders.. without at least attempting to educate your self about other options may not be defensible at all. if you're talking about otherwise mostly sane people anyhow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @01:51AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @02:18AM
I want to live in an Isekai.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:07AM
There are your burdons and then there are the burdons foisted upon you. Tackling the former makes you a better person, suffering the latter can make you never the same person again. One is foundational the other is the opposite.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Tuesday November 07 2017, @02:03PM
From your personal experience as someone with obsessive thoughts, PTSD, or a similarly relevant condition?
Or is your post the equivalent of a lifelong Windows user giving well-intentioned advice regarding how to solve package conflicts in Linux?